Science and technology

Cleaning the air: using scientific information to regulate reformulated fuels

Article Abstract:

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, investigated how the environmental implications of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 which allowed the use of MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether) as an additive to gasoline.

Administration of Air and Water Resource and Solid Waste Management Programs, Water Pollution Control, Brief Article, University of California (Berkeley)

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Will ethanol-blended gasoline affect groundwater quality?

Article Abstract:

Environmental impact analysis indicates that although methyl tert-butyl ether and ethane share some similarities, ethanol's high degree of biodegradability under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions will cause possible groundwater contamination to be more manageable and less severe. However, ethanol's hygroscopic nature and it's depletion of groundwater electron acceptors and nutrients are cited as possible limitations for its complete implementation as a gasoline oxygenate or as a biomass fuel. In addition, accompanying graphs include information regarding ethanol half-life and ethanol partitioning.

Transport of methyl tert-butyl ether through alfalfa plants

Article Abstract:

A mathematical model was developed to estimate the amount of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) transported from contaminated soil up the stems of alfalfa plants. The diffusion coefficient was calculated based on transient experimental data.